Remember Our Fallen Heroes

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America is great once again! Donald Trump wins, the Senate has gone to the Republicans and, as I write this, the House might stay with Republicans too. Just as with Trump's experience in Butler, Pennsylvania, we Americans have dodged the bullet. Thank Heavens!

But amidst all the political warfare this week (which the Left will undoubtedly continue long after election day) it's easy to forget about the day which honors our heroes of actual war, Veterans Day.

Veterans Day originally began as Armistice Day, which is commemorated every year on November 11 to mark the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany for the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front, which took effect at 11:00 am —the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" of 1918.

Near the end of the war remembrance poppies soon sprang up. A remembrance poppy is an artificial flower worn to commemorate their military personnel who died in war. Remembrance poppies are produced by veterans' associations, which exchange the poppies for charitable donations used to give financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the armed forces.

These poppies were inspired by the war poem, “In Flanders Fields” and promoted by Moina Michael. Anna Guerin, a French teacher and humanitarian, established the first "Poppy Days" to raise funds for veterans, widows, orphans and liberty bonds, as well as charities such as the Red Cross. Her idea was for all World War I Allied countries to use artificial poppies, made by French widows and orphans, as an emblem for remembering those who gave their lives during the World War I and, at the same time, creating a method of raising funds to support the families of the fallen and those who had survived, thereafter. Today, the Remembrance Poppy encompasses all conflicts that have occurred since.

References to war and poppies in Flanders can be found as early as the 19th century, in the book The Scottish Soldiers of Fortune by James Grant. The opening lines of the World War I poem "In Flanders Fields" refer to Flanders poppies growing among the graves of war victims in a region of Belgium.

The poem is written from the point of view of the fallen soldiers and in its last verse, the soldiers call on the living to continue the conflict. The poem was written by Canadian physician John McCrae on 3 May 1915 after witnessing the death of his friend and fellow soldier the day before and was first published on 8 December 1915 in the London-based magazine Punch.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields, the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow
, Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

In the United States, the Veterans of Foreign Wars conducted the first nationwide distribution of remembrance poppies before Memorial Day in 1922. The poppy was named the official flower of the American Legion in September of 1920, although the legion only began their own national distribution program of remembrance poppies in 1924. The American Legion Auxiliary distributes crepe-paper poppies and then requests a donation, around Memorial Day and Veterans Day (National Poppy Day, the Friday before Memorial Day).

As a kid I remember seeing them being worn extensively at this time of year. We don't see them as much these days. Maybe people think it's just too old fashioned or hokey. I say let's bring them back into style. What a sweet way to remember those brave souls who gave their all to keep us free.

We might also wear them this year as a tribute to Donald Trump, who has rescued our country from the destructive forces of the Democrat Left.

(COMMENT, BELOW)